My Mother – Adele

When I was 5 months old, my mom adopted me from Lutheran Child Services. For 43 years from that time, she loved me, taught me, guided me and cared for me. This past Easter morning, she passed away in my arms. She was such a strong woman that she waited for her whole family to be around her before she died.

While I am an adult, she was always the person I would talk to first for advice. I might not have always taken that advice, but she was always my touchstone with any of my life issues. She was the person who I would share all my thoughts with. She would listen and commiserate and no matter what, she would stand by my side, right or wrong. She might not mince her words about what I did wrong, but ultimately she would guide me to do the right thing. Even as an adult, if I told her I was sick, she would make me soup and care for me. My mother never stopped being my mother my entire life. The concept of her being gone is proving very difficult for me, as I feel lost without being able to share my life with her. I so want to tell her about how the house is coming along. I so want to tell her about my presentation tonight. I so want to tell her about my trip abroad that she waited for me to get back from before she let go. I shared all my life’s ups and downs with her and she reveled in my successes and sympathized with my defeats.

I was very lucky to have her choose me as one of her children. While I know she is no longer in agony, I wish she could have been around forever. The void she has left in my life is hollow and empty. I will miss her for the rest of my life.